(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steam oven, more specifically, a steam oven that humidifies food during its heating so as to prevent drying of the food or steams food.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
For example, a steam oven of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,941. In this steam oven, water dripped to the inside of a cooking chamber is converted into mist by a fan, and the mist is then heated due to the high temperature inside the cooking chamber, whereby steam is generated. The inside of the cooking chamber and the outside of the oven are connected to each other by a channel. At least during generation of the steam, a valve provided near the outlet of the channel is kept closed to seal the inside of the cooking chamber. The amount of steam generated inside the cooking chamber can be controlled by adjusting the amount of water dripped to the inside of the cooking chamber, in response to the pressure inside the cooking chamber. The pressure inside the cooking chamber is relatively high. Therefore, water feeding by the channel must be conducted forcibly by a pump or the like.
In this steam oven, a pressure sensor is provided in the cooking chamber so as to control the amount of steam generated in the cooking chamber. When the pressure inside the cooking chamber measured by the pressure sensor becomes lower than a predetermined pressure, the amount of steam is increased by dripping water, while when it becomes higher than the predetermined pressure, the amount of steam is decreased by decreasing the amount of dripping water.
As is obvious from the above description, this conventional steam oven has a problem that it cannot control the amount of steam generated appropriately, because it controls the amount of steam generated in response to the pressure inside the cooking chamber. Further, the conventional oven also has a problem that it lacks safety because the cooking chamber is sealed during cooking of food and the pressure inside the cooking chamber becomes high accordingly.
The present invention has been conceived to solve the above problems of the prior art. An object of the present invention is to provide a steam oven which is capable of controlling the amount of steam generated appropriately in response to the steam temperature. Another object of the present invention is to provide a steam oven which is rendered highly safe by keeping a cooking chamber connected to the outside of the oven so as to prevent the inside of the cooking chamber from being exposed to high pressure.